The iPhone 5 has been a sales success for most carriers around the world. However, Cricket Wireless – the no contract prepaid network operated by Leap Wireless -- isn't having luck selling the iPhone 5 and is seeing stock levels climb as consumers opt for other devices.

Leap Wireless says that it believes it will sell about half as many iPhones as it committed to sell during the first year of its contract with Apple, which ends in June. Leap Wireless believes that the poor sales could leave it with as much as $100 million worth of unsold iPhones by the middle of 2013.

Leap Wireless has 5.3 million subscribers and areas where it can sell the iPhone are limited by its limited network coverage. Leap was the first of the major prepaid carriers in the US to offer the iPhone last year.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Leap Wireless and other prepaid carriers who offer the iPhone is one of cost. While carriers that require a contract, such as AT&T and Verizon, are able to subsidize the cost of the iPhone making it significantly cheaper up front, Leap charges the full retail price of $500.

Considering that pre-paid carriers tend to attract customers shopping on a budget coming up with $500 could be a stretch for many subscribers leading them to “cheaper”, subsidized phones.

The carriers would just use a 2 year contract with a 2 year standard payment plan for ~$400 worth of the phones sticker price (and a down payment equivalent to the current on contract price), and advertise the combination of the two as their headline price.

What you're talking about there is financing the phone, seperately from the cost of the cellular service. In order for any such regulation as I mentioned to be effective, there'd have to be rules about how you could advertise such stuff, to prevent such loopholes.

Off the top of my head, you'd have to force the companies to prominently list the cost of the monthly cellular service, then the cost to purchase the phone, then the cost of a monthly payment if you finance the phone, and then if you want a combined price of the financed phone + montly cellular service.

Or maybe you just prohibit the last option at all, and force consumers to actually think for themselves and do some basic math. It's sad that you have to force people to think...but the fact of the matter is, we're pretty f%cking stupid.